1988
1988: Politics, Society & Popular Culture Below is a non-exhaustive list of happenings in politics, society and pop culture in 1988, which could be or have been relevant to a project in some way, by way of storylines, characters or just references: Events JANUARY 1988 *Elizabeth Butler-Sloss becomes first woman appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal *Thatcher becomes longest-serving British prime minister of 20th century *Rowan Atkinson launches Comic Relief *Ford Escort best-selling car for sixth consecutive year *Government announces that inflammable foam furniture will be banned from March 1989 *Colin Pitchfork conviction first time a murder conviction in UK is based on DNA fingerprinting evidence FEBRUARY 1988 *Nurses strike for higher pay and more money for NHS *Nearly 7'000 ferry workers strike, paralysing the nation's seaports *First BBC Red Nose Day, which raises £15m *Norman Fowler, Employment Secretary, announces plans for a new training scheme which the government hopes will give jobs to up to 600,000 people who are currently unemployed (YTS?) *Three ITV franchises - Central, Granada and Scottish - launch 24-hour transmission, and with it, the ITV Early Morning News (which was only broadcast on 24-hour regions). The programme aired at 5am for an hour until 1991, when it moved and was rebranded the ITV Morning News (At 05:30) *Channel 4 starts broadcasting into the early hours, closing down between 02:00 and 03:00. Previously it had closed at around 00:00 MARCH 1988 *£1 note ceases to be legal tender (11th) *The Anglia Television 'knight on a silver horse' ident is consigned to history after 29 years, and replaced by the 'pyramid triangles' ident - a log it would use until it's franchise was made dormant by ITV in 2002 (21st) APRIL 1988 *Crossroads (by then known as 'Crossroads: Kings Oak') ends after 24 years on air (4th) *Government announces nurses will receive a 15% pay rise, at a cost of £794,000,000 funded by Treasury (21st) MAY 1988 *First group of 16yos sits GCSEs, which replace CSEs and O-Levels *A study claims proposed 'poll tax' (community charge), due to come into force in 1989, will see average house price values rise by 20% *Dog licenses abolished in England, Scotland and Wales *Local Government Act becomes law. Includes controversial Section 28 - historically seen as homophobic - which banned councils from promoting homosexuality, including in schools *Yorkshire Television becomes the next ITV franchise to go 24-hour (30th) JUNE 1988 *Famous talk show host Russell Harty dies aged 53, due to liver failure complications *Some 80,000 people attend The Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium, in honour of the South African anti-apartheid campaigner who turned 70yo on that day, and had been imprisoned since 1964 (11th) *Channel Television and TVS become the next ITV franchises to go 24-hour (20th) *Three gay rights activists invade the BBC television studios during The Six O'Clock News in protest at introduction of Section 28 (23rd) JULY 1988 *CofE announces it will allow ordination of female priests from 1992 *21yo Paul Gascoigne (Gazza) becomes first £2m footballer signed by a British Club when he leaves Newcastle for Tottenham *Paddy Ashdown is elected first leader of the SLDP (renamed the Liberal Democrats in 1989) (28th) *National Curriculum, including Key Stages and league tables, introduced in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (29th) *Economists warn house price boom likely to end in 1989 (31st) AUGUST 1988 *Princess Beatrice born (8th). She is not named until 22nd *HTV becomes the next ITV franchise to go 24-hour (22nd) *New licensing laws allow pubs to stay open all day in England and Wales (22nd) *14yo Matthew Sadler becomes Britain's youngest international chess master (29th) SEPTEMBER 1988 *Economic experts warn that Britain is facing a recession in the near future *Border, Grampian and TSW become the next ITV franchises to go 24-hour (2nd) *Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete in the Olympics in Seoul and do very well (17th) OCTOBER 1988 *Olympics draw to a close (2nd) *This Morning debuts on ITV. It is presented by Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan until they quit in 2001 (3rd) *Ulster Television is the final ITV franchise to go 24-hour (3rd) NOVEMBER 1988 *A government report reveals up to 50'000 people in Britain may be HIV positive, and that by the end of 1992, up to 17,000 people may have died from AIDS *Anne Diamond presents her final TV:AM, having quit (1st) *The famous Neighbours wedding of Scott and Charlene, Episode 523, airs and draws 20m viewers (8th) DECEMBER 1988 *Health Minister Edwina Currie provokes outrage by stating most of Britain's egg production is infected with the salmonella bacteria, causing an immediate nationwide decrease in egg sales (3rd). She resigns on 16th *35 people killed in Clapham Junction rail crash (12th) *Central becomes the first ITV region to complete a run of Sons And Daughters *The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors publishes its house price survey, revealing a deep recession in the housing market (19th) *Pan Am Flight 103 explodes over the town of Lockerbie, killing a total of 270 people – 11 on the ground and all 259 onboard Other *Hello! Magazine and Roald Dahl's Matilda first published *British Rail still in existence, and would remain so until 1994, when privitisation began Music (UK Release Dates) JANUARY 1988 *"Always On My Mind" - Pet Shop Boys* *"Heaven Is A Place On Earth" - Belinda Carlisle *"I Should Be So Lucky" - Kylie Minogue *"Now 10" - Various Artists *"Tell It To My Heart" - Taylor Dayne FEBRUARY 1988 *"Beat Dis" - Bomb The Bass *"Get Out Of My Dreams, Get Into My Car" - Billy Ocean MARCH 1988 *"Don't Turn Around" - Aswad *"Perfect" - Fairground Attraction APRIL 1988 *"Heart" - Pet Shop Boys *"Now 11" - Various Artists *"Theme From S'Express" - S-Express MAY 1988 *"Doctorin' The TARDIS" - The Timelords *"Got To Be Certain" - Kylie Minogue *"With A Little Help From My Friends" - Wet Wet Wet JUNE 1988 *"Boys" - Sabrina *"I Owe You Nothing" - Bros JULY 1988 *"Girl You Know It's True" - Milli Vanilli *"The Loco-Motion" - Kylie Minogue *"Now 12" - Various Artists *"The Only Way Is Up" - Yazz *"You Came" - Kim Wilde AUGUST 1988 *"A Groovy Kind Of Love" - Phil Collins SEPTEMBER 1988 *"A Little Respect" - Erasure *"Big Fun" - Inner City *"One Moment In Time" - Whitney Houston OCTOBER 1988 *"Desire" - U2 *"Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi" - Kylie Minogue *"Orinoco Flow" - Enya NOVEMBER 1988 *"When Will I Be Famous" - Bros DECEMBER 1988 *"Especially For You" - Kylie Minogue & Jason Donovan *"Mistletoe And Wine" - Cliff Richard *"Now 13" - Various Artists * released in late 1987 but still a hit in early 1988